Vol. 1 Chapter 27 – Don’t Look

It was about an hour ago that Akari had rushed off to secure front-row seats for Murai’s exam, which started at 10 AM.

It was thirty minutes ago that Aida, after we’d killed some time playing Look-That-Way, suddenly went for a walk around the school.

The time was just before 10 AM. With about two hours of waiting time left, Nagisa and I were completely bored.

“Yuuuto… tell me an interesting story or something?” (Nagisa)

“…Do you really think I can handle that kind of request?” (Yuuto)

“Hmm… Doesn’t seem like it…” (Nagisa)

Nagisa sent a look filled with resignation my way, her body slumped languidly over the desk, feet flapping in the air.

“Hey… let’s talk about something.” (Nagisa)

“About what?” (Yuuto)

“Hmm… Last night’s dinner?” (Nagisa)

“We had hamburger steak yesterday. Besides, you ate with us yesterday too, Nagisa.” (Yuuto)

Since Nagisa and Mom exchanged contact information, Nagisa had been joining us for dinner more often.

Mom herself said, “Living alone must be tough, and I have to look after her, right? Our previous neighbor helped Yuuto out a lot too,” but her expression just looked like she was simply enjoying doting on a different type of girl than Akari.

“Oh! Tell Yuuto’s mom I want to eat hamburger steak again! It was delicious!” (Nagisa)

“Didn’t you say that over and over yesterday…?” (Yuuto)

“Tell her again! Just in case!” (Nagisa)

I recalled the scene from last night: Nagisa, washing dishes alongside Mom, repeatedly requesting to have it again. Mom didn’t seem to mind at all, so it looked like hamburger steak would be appearing on our dinner table again soon.

“Alright, I’ll tell her.” (Yuuto)

When I replied, thinking it would probably end up on the table anyway even if I didn’t make another request, Nagisa’s flapping feet noticeably quickened. Just as she started humming softly, Aida finally returned to the classroom.

“I always used to take the same route, but the more you walk around, the more this school has a certain charm, doesn’t it?” (Aida)

Aida, slowly settling into her chair, had an expression that suggested she’d just accomplished a significant task.

“Well now? What shall we do?” (Aida)

Saying so, Aida, who had pulled out a deck of cards from who-knows-where, began to shuffle them with a fearless smile…

“Cards are surprisingly difficult, aren’t they?” (Aida)

Aida, who had apparently only played cards a few times with her family, was, to put it bluntly, weak. We tried various games like Old Maid, Grand Millionaire, and Speed, but by the time we realized that Concentration was the game where we could have the most decent match, a fair amount of time had passed, and our group was the only one left in the classroom.

“Alright! We can do that now!” (Nagisa)

Nagisa, who had seemed to be enjoying herself at first but had evidently grown tired of the endless card games, suddenly stood up and started moving the unoccupied chairs.

“…What are you doing?” (Yuuto)

“Oh, come on, it’ll be fine as long as we put them back before we leave the classroom.” (Nagisa)

She diligently moved the chairs, lining up about five of them in the empty space at the front of the classroom.

“…?” (Aida)

Aida, perhaps with nothing else to do, quietly shuffled the cards in her hand, looking at Nagisa curiously.

“What on earth are you…” (Yuuto)

As I tried to voice my question, Nagisa’s palm shot out towards me, stopping my words.

With a proud expression, she slipped off her indoor shoes and leaned her weight onto the row of chairs as if lying down.

“A simple bed!” (Nagisa)

“…Don’t fall off, okay?” (Yuuto)

She must have been so bored that anything would do. Watching Nagisa now reminded me of Akari when she was in elementary school. I remembered Akari falling off her back then; luckily, she wasn’t seriously injured, but she didn’t stop crying for several minutes.

“I think I’ll spend the next 30 minutes or so like this.” (Nagisa)

There was still about an hour and a half until the exam. It seemed she planned to sleep until that one-hour-before mark she’d mentioned.

“…I wonder if I can go for another walk?” (Aida)

“…Another one?” (Yuuto)

Aida, who had been looking at the clock, hinted at a surprising second stroll around the school, making me ask again involuntarily.

“It’s fine. I’ll definitely be back 30 minutes before. In fact, Aoi, would you like to come too? Is this what they call a uniform date?” (Aida)

Nagisa, who should have been relaxing on the chairs, suddenly twisted around and shot an angry glare at me. …Was she wary that I might make a move on Aida? I sensed that vibe… though I had neither the inclination nor the guts for such a thing.

“I’ll pass… Besides, even if it were a date, if it’s within the school grounds, you wouldn’t specifically call it a ‘uniform date,’ would you?” (Yuuto)

“Oh? Is that so?” (Aida)

“Probably.” (Yuuto)

“I see… I’d like to try a uniform date again sometime.” (Aida)

Leaving those words behind, she exited the classroom. And Nagisa, despite Aida not saying a single word about wanting to go on a uniform date with me, intensified her wariness towards me.

A few minutes passed after that, perhaps. Without any particular conversation, and despite intending to relax without thinking about the actual performance, I found myself mentally rehearsing the script before I knew it. Habit is a scary thing.

“Hey, Yuuto?” (Nagisa)

She shifted from lying with her back to me to a position where I could see her face.

“These chairs are hard and my body hurts.” (Nagisa)

“Well, yeah. They’re optimized for sitting.” (Yuuto)

“If only I had a pillow…” (Nagisa)

Saying that, she tried putting her school bag under her head, but she quickly looked like it wasn’t quite right.

“Oh well… I guess this is fine…” (Nagisa)

She sat up on one of the chairs she had lined up, sighing as if giving up.

“What should I do? Aida probably won’t be back for about 30 minutes either.” (Nagisa)

“Probably not.” (Yuuto)

I had come to understand it well during the practice period for the exam. That person was probably the origin of the word ‘freedom’ or something. Someone must have seen Aida and created the word ‘freedom.’

“Yuuto, let’s do something.” (Nagisa)

“Something? All we have are cards, you know?” (Yuuto)

I said, glancing sideways at the deck of cards Aida had left on her desk.

“Cards are… fine, I guess, but maybe not…” (Nagisa)

With no real ideas for killing time emerging, and with the warmth of the sunlight that had begun to stream in through the window as per the weather forecast, a yawn escaped me.

“What? Are you sleepy, Yuuto?” (Nagisa)

“Hm? Yeah, just a little.” (Yuuto)

When I answered honestly, Nagisa stood up from her chair with a determined expression.

“Use it?” (Nagisa)

“No, you said it was hard, right?” (Yuuto)

She herself had just concluded that it wasn’t suitable for relaxing.

“It’s okay. Because I have a pillow.” (Nagisa)

Saying so, Nagisa sat down where her head had been moments before and patted her own thighs.

“Go ahead?” (Nagisa)

Nagisa invited me with a provocative tone, a hint of anticipation in her eyes.

“No… I’m good, thanks.” (Yuuto)

“Why not! You like them, don’t you!? Thighs!” (Nagisa)

When I tried to politely decline without taking the bait, for some reason, the content of that conversation had been leaked.

“How do you know that?” (Yuuto)

“I heard it from that guy, Yamada. A little while ago, he told me to give Yuuto a lap pillow if he looked tired.” (Nagisa)

“That meddling idiot…” (Yuuto)

While acknowledging the guts it took for him to say such a thing to a current actress he’d likely just met, I mentally vowed to give him a stern warning next time we met so he’d never speak of it again.

“You don’t have to believe him. A guy like that.” (Yuuto)

“So it’s a lie? That you like thighs?” (Nagisa)

“…It’s not a lie, but.” (Yuuto)

“Then why not use it? The pillow.” (Nagisa)

She patted her thighs again, sending a questioning gaze my way.

“…Aida might come back.” (Yuuto)

“She’s not coming back, you know that, don’t you, Yuuto?” (Nagisa)

The excuse I had for evasion was quickly shattered. No, there were probably more excuses I could have made. But I had already stopped searching for words and moved closer to Nagisa.

“Go on?” (Nagisa)

With a gentle smile, she looked up at me, her gaze firmly catching mine and not letting go.

“…Excuse me…” (Yuuto)

I forcibly tore my gaze away and rested my head on Nagisa’s thighs. The first emotions that came were shame and surprise.

The rational thought of what on earth I was doing in a classroom with no one else around, and the sensation of her thighs that blew it all away.

I couldn’t look at Nagisa’s face out of embarrassment. I turned my face outwards, staring at some unidentifiable graffiti drawn on the blackboard at the back of the classroom, desperately trying not to think about unnecessary things… but

“There, there…” (Nagisa)

She murmured in a tone like she was soothing a child, slowly stroking my head. Surprised by Nagisa’s unexpected action, I couldn’t even keep my gaze fixed on the anonymous graffiti anymore.

“Thank you, for doing the exam with me.” (Nagisa)

She was trying to sound calm, but her voice definitely held a trace of shyness.

“You don’t really have to force yourself to do this, you know…?” (Yuuto)

Realizing that Nagisa wasn’t entirely composed either, a slight sense of guilt welled up in me.

“It’s just because I wanted to do this…” (Nagisa)

Her words were spun, her voice trembling slightly, perhaps from shyness.

“So…” (Nagisa)

My eyes were covered by Nagisa’s hand, enveloped in warmth.

“For now… don’t look at my face…?” (Nagisa)